Ongoing concerns with the fiscal health of the Hi-Desert Medical Center, and the anticipated changes expected as the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, prompted assignment reporter Mike Lipsitz to sit down with the Hospital’s CEO Chad Chadwick and CFO Robert Tyk to discuss the future of the Basin’s third largest employer…
Hi-Desert Medical Center struggles to deliver a high standard of medical care in an environment of falling patient volumes, rising regulatory requirements, and reduced payouts from Medicare, Medi-Cal, and other insurers. CEO Chad Chadwick says the challenges require the District to continuously look at cost structure in order to keep every dollar earned; but, he stressed that the greatest prospect for improved finances is in more patient admissions. Obamacare’s promise to provide access to medical care for millions of uninsured Americans represents a seismic shift in the industry. But the hospital district won’t capitalize on these newly insured unless it can get a handle on the chronic problem of attracting and retaining doctors who will admit patients here. It’s a problem that the CEO says is being addressed proactively along with patient care, which he says has greatly improved.
